Forestry in China
Forestry in China
Abeedullah Jan
ABSTRACT
Intro: I visited China with Five Members Forestry Delegation for three weeks from 19th October to 8th November, 1977. These are my impressions: The People's Republic of China is situated in the eastern part of Asia and on the west coast of Pacific Ocean. It has a vast territory of 9.6 million sq: km. The topography varies from cloud-caped peaks to basins of different shapes and sizes and from wide rolling plateaus to low broad plains. There are great deserts and wild lands in the north-west, while, rivers, streams and lakes stud the plains in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The climate is dominated by the monsoonal winds rising out of the difference in the heat absorbing capacity of the land and the ocean. A combination of high temperature and plenty of rainfall provides favourable conditions for afforestation and farming. China was extremely poor before liberation. The country was divided into segments which were held under sway and domination by the colonial powers. The people were addicted to opium, diseases were common, agriculture production was low, floods were too much and too many and famine was almost an annual feature. Natural resources were available but they were being exploited by the feudal lords and colonial masters. The lot of common man was therefore, miserable. Indiscriminate felings and other types of abuses inflicted on forests by the starving masses and the ruling classes through ages had depleted the forest resource to less than 10% at the time of liberation in 1949. China lias made tremendous strides in all fields including forestry after liberation. Self reliance and hard struggle are the key stones of China’s success in Agriculture and Industry. The people are deriving strength and aspiration from the teachings of their great leader, Chairman Mao such as:
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June 1978
Vol. 28, Iss. 2
